Former Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday he thinks the Democratic National convention will have to be pushed back from July into August because of the coronavirus threat, New York Post reports.
“I doubt whether the Democratic convention is going to be able to be held in mid-July, early-July,” Biden said on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
“I think it’s going to have to move into August,” the prospective Democratic presidential nominee said.
The convention, where the party officially nominates its presidential candidate, is scheduled for July 13 to 16 in Milwaukee, however in a recent poll 62 percent of registered voters in the state said the event – a media circus with thousands of spectators – should be scrapped.
Biden, with strong primary performances in March, has amassed a comfortable delegate lead over his last remaining challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders. But he’s still short of the 1,991 needed to win the nomination. Since the Coronavirus outbreak Biden has been struggling for attention during what would normally be a critical, high-profile point in a campaign leading to the former vice president being reduced to broadcasting from his basement, clamoring for air time. His viewing figures for last night’s YouTube interview with Jimmy Fallon stand at 20,000.
Biden stressed the need for a convention contingency plan.
“We just have to be prepared for the alternative, and the alternative, we don’t know what it’s going to be unless we have a better sense of whether this curve is going to move down or up,” he told Fallon.